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Jordanian King Forms Committee to Oversee Reforms

King Abdullah directed the new committee to draw up a set of laws setting out reforms to overhaul the political system. (AFP/File)
King Abdullah directed the new committee to draw up a set of laws setting out reforms to overhaul the political system. (AFP/File)
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Jordanian King Forms Committee to Oversee Reforms

King Abdullah directed the new committee to draw up a set of laws setting out reforms to overhaul the political system. (AFP/File)
King Abdullah directed the new committee to draw up a set of laws setting out reforms to overhaul the political system. (AFP/File)

Jordan’s King Abdullah II has entrusted on Thursday former prime minister Samir Rifai with chairing a 92-member Royal Committee to Modernize the Political System.

The body will draft modern election and political party laws, suggest amendments and improvements to Jordan’s decision-making system.

"The committee’s mission will be to put forward new draft election and political parties laws, look into the necessary constitutional amendments connected to the two laws and the mechanisms of parliamentary work, and provide recommendations on developing legislation regulating local administration, expanding participation in decision-making, and creating a political and legislative environment conducive to the active engagement of youth and women in public life," read the King's letter to Rifai, according to Petra News Agency.

"We are determined to bring about a qualitative leap in political and parliamentary life, in a manner that guarantees the objectives and aspirations for the future."

King Abdullah also stressed the importance of supporting the role of youth and explore means of motivating their engagement in partisan and parliamentary life.

He also called for empowering women’s "active" engagement and promoting the values of good citizenship in terms of rights, duties, freedoms guaranteed by legislation, and the full adherence to the rule of law.

The King also said the committee should use his “Discussion Papers” as a guiding document to map out a future roadmap.

Notably, the seven Discussions Papers were issued seven years ago tackling a number of issues, including mechanisms to improve Jordan’s political system, democratization process and education.

"I am awaiting the outcome of your work, which shall include the recommendations and proposed draft laws, provided that their date of submission would precede the convening of the next ordinary session of Parliament," the King said in his final statements to Rifai.

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Lebanon Security Source Says Hezbollah Official Targeted in Beirut Strike

Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
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Lebanon Security Source Says Hezbollah Official Targeted in Beirut Strike

Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

A Lebanese security source said the target of a deadly Israeli airstrike on central Beirut early Saturday was a senior Hezbollah official, adding it was unclear whether he was killed.

"The Israeli strike on Basta targeted a leading Hezbollah figure," the security official told AFP without naming the figure, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

The early morning airstrike has killed at least 15 people and injured 63, according to authorities, and had brought down an eight-storey building nearby, in the second such attack on the working-class neighbourhood of Basta in as many months.

"The strike was so strong it felt like the building was about to fall on our heads," said Samir, 60, who lives with his family in a building facing the one that was hit.

"It felt like they had targeted my house," he said, asking to be identified by only his first name because of security concerns.

There had been no evacuation warning issued by the Israeli military for the Basta area.

After the strike, Samir fled his home in the middle of the night with his wife and two children, aged 14 and just three.

On Saturday morning, dumbstruck residents watched as an excavator cleared the wreckage of the razed building and rescue efforts continued, with nearby buildings also damaged in the attack, AFP journalists reported.

The densely packed district has welcomed people displaced from traditional Hezbollah bastions in Lebanon's east, south and southern Beirut, after Israel intensified its air campaign on September 23, later sending in ground troops.

"We saw two dead people on the ground... The children started crying and their mother cried even more," Samir told AFP, reporting minor damage to his home.

Since last Sunday, four deadly Israeli strikes have hit central Beirut, including one that killed Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afif.

Residents across the city and its outskirts awoke at 0400 (0200 GMT) on Saturday to loud explosions and the smell of gunpowder in the air.

"It was the first time I've woken up screaming in terror," said Salah, a 35-year-old father of two who lives in the same street as the building that was targeted.

"Words can't express the fear that gripped me," he said.

Saturday's strikes were the second time the Basta district had been targeted since war broke out, after deadly twin strikes early in October hit the area and the Nweiri neighbourhood.

Last month's attacks killed 22 people and had targeted Hezbollah security chief Wafiq Safa, who made it out alive, a source close to the group told AFP.

Salah said his wife and children had been in the northern city of Tripoli, about 70 kilometres away (45 miles), but that he had to stay in the capital because of work.

His family had been due to return this weekend because their school reopens on Monday, but now he has decided against it following the attack.

"I miss them. Every day they ask me: 'Dad, when are we coming home?'" he said.

Lebanon's health ministry says that more than 3,650 people have been killed since October 2023, after Hezbollah initiated exchanges of fire with Israel in solidarity with its Iran-backed ally Hamas over the Gaza war.

However, most of the deaths in Lebanon have been since September this year.

Despite the trauma caused by Saturday's strike, Samir said he and his family had no choice but to return home.

"Where else would I go?" he asked.

"All my relatives and siblings have been displaced from Beirut's southern suburbs and from the south."